Chicago Police try to connect the dots in string of carjackings

As charges were pending Tuesday against two men detectives believe may be responsible for a rash of carjackings across the city that occurred in a 24-hour window Sunday into Monday, Police Supt. Eddie Johnson put would-be copycats on notice.

“We simply will not tolerate you carjacking the citizens of the city,” he said.

Detectives are trying to determine if the men, ages 18 and 19, committed at least 12 brazen carjackings and robberies that occurred Sunday and Monday before police spotted them in a stolen SUV about 9:30 p.m. in the 800 block of North Racine.

Officers chased the stolen vehicle onto the Eisenhower Expressway. When the men bailed out of the car on the highway near Austin Boulevard in Oak Park, officers gave chase on foot, finally collaring both men.

A police helicopter monitored the chase from above.

A gun with an extended clip and stolen property were recovered at the scene, Guglielmi said.

Two officers who crashed their car during the chase suffered minor injuries from broken glass, he said.

“If you come out there and you think you’re going to continue to carjack, you’re wrong. We’re going to come after you with everything we have, everything at our disposal, and we will get you because this simply will not be tolerated in the city of Chicago,” said Johnson.

His comments were partially aimed at a number of juveniles from the West Side who’ve played a part in the rising number of carjackings in the city, which so far this year total 760.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said 180 arrests have been made in those cases. Last year, 177 arrests were made in 663 carjackings, he said. But Guglielmi could not say how many of those arrests resulted in charges.

“We do know there’s been an increase in juvenile offenders committing this crime,” Johnson said, noting that detectives have determined the teens are largely from West Side neighborhoods.

In response, Johnson is sending police staff to schools in these areas “to find out what’s the driving force behind it.”

Johnson’s emissaries: Robin Robinson, a former television news anchor who’s now employed by the police department as a community affairs advisor, and Dwayne Betts, deputy chief community policing.

“Juvenile justice is a complex issue,” Johnson said. “We recognize that their minds are not fully developed but at the same time there has to be a consequence for those actions. We cannot wait for individuals to age out of committing those types of crimes.”

Johnson spoke to reporters after a police graduation ceremony Tuesday at Navy Pier in which 199 new cops were sworn in.

Detectives are trying to determine if the men arrested Monday, both adults, are linked to the following carjackings and robberies that occurred:

4:17 a.m. Sunday in the 200 block of North Justine Street in the West Town neighborhood9:26 p.m. Sunday in the 2200 block of West Walnut Street in the Fulton River District neighborhood9:57 p.m. Sunday in the 700 block of North Wood Street in the West Town neighborhood10:20 p.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of West Flournoy Street in the University Village neighborhood12:09 a.m. Monday in the 300 block of South Paulina Street in the Near West Side2:30 a.m. Monday in the 1300 block of North Leavitt Street in the Wicker Park neighborhood2:35 a.m. Monday in the 2500 block of West Wellington in the Avondale neighborhood3:02 a.m. Monday in the 400 block of North Aberdeen Street in the West Town neighborhood3:30 a.m. Monday in the 3600 block of North Hamlin Avenue in The Villa neighborhood4:03 a.m. Monday in the 1500 block of North Artesian Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood4:08 a.m. Monday in the 1400 block of North Maplewood Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood4:24 a.m. Monday in the 1900 block of West Augusta Boulevard in the East Ukrainian Village

The offenders were described as two to three black men between 5-foot-6 and 6-foot-1, 150 to 170 pounds with medium-to-dark complexions, police said. One man is 18 to 20 years old; the other, 30 to 35.

Both men were masked, police said.

From overnight, 2 carjacking suspects in custody with charges pending following a west-side pursuit by CPD. Incident started in the 012th dist and ended on I-290 in Oak Park. Extended clip weapon also recovered. pic.twitter.com/Da9hcHk5hK

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